Combined shirt support and ironer



June 30, 1936. D. NELSON CQMBINED SHIRT SUPPORT AND IRONER Filed May 14, 1934 Patented June 30, 1936 UNETED STATES PATENT castes 6 Claims.

It is a common practice in laundries to button, or partially button, mens shirts upon ironing them. The object of the present invention is to provide simple and novel means for supporting a shirt and efliciently performing a part of the ironing operation while the shirt is being buttoned or partially buttoned.

Mens ordinary shirts have shoulder yoke portions composed of several plies, each yoke portion requiring a separate ironing operation if done in the usual way. It has been found, however, that the shoulder yokes may be ironed automatically, as it were, by hanging the shirt on a suitable, heated form and leaving 'it there, with the shoulder yokes smoothed down against the form while the buttoning of the shirt is progressing. While a skillful operator may obtain satisfactory results by employing a simple form or support and smoothing and pressing out the shoulder yokes with his hands, a less skillful workman may have more or less difiiculty in obtaining the proper ironing effect without taking too much time for the combined operations of ironing and buttoning. Specifically considered, the object of the present invention is to produce a simple and novel machine or apparatus for supporting a shirt and ironing its shoulder yokes, which shall comprise not only a proper form but also means to hold the shoulder yoke portions of the shirt taut and in contact with the form; thereby leaving the workmans hands free to perform other acts.

The various features of novelty whereby my invention is characterized will hereinafter be pointed out with particularity in the claims; but,

for a full understanding of my invention and of its objects and advantages, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein: v

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a device embodying the present invention, showing a shirt on the form, the holding element being illustrated in the raised position; Fig. Zisa side View of the apparatus, with the shirt removed, the holding elementbeing shown raised in full lines and lowered in dotted lines; and Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing only the upper part of the device, with the holding element pulling down on the shirt which appears in section.

Referring to the drawing, [represents a form adapted to be heated in any suitable way to an ironing temperature. In the arrangement shown, the form is a steam chest and, for'the sake of brevity, will be referred to as such heremeans to draw the shirt into intimate contact .with the form underneath the latter and adapt after. The steam chest has a length as great as the width of a mans shirt across the shoulders and a thickness, measured from front to rear, at least as great as the width of the multiple-ply shoulderryoke portions of the shirt. The bot- 5 tom of the chest may be fiat while the top face 2 is bowed upwardly gradually from both ends to- Ward the middle, causing the chest to be very shallow at the ends and of considerable height at the middle. Since the chest is shallow at the ends,'1't may be made as long as or even longer than the widest shirt that is to be ironed, since the ends of the chest can extend out into the arms of the narrower shirts, if necessary. The top face is also preferably bowed transversely, taking the form of a smooth curved surface rising gradually from the front and rear of the chest toward the longitudinal center.

The steam chest is preferably mounted on top of a'suitable standard 3 rising from a suitable base 4 which, when resting on the floor, causes the steam chest to be held at such a height that the workman can conveniently hang shirts thereon, button them, and remove them. In the arrangeme'nt shown, the standard is in the form of a tube connected at the lower end to a hollow head 5. Steam is admitted to the steam chest from a supply pipe 6 connected to the head 5 and escapes from. the steam chest in the form of steam or .water of condensation through a pipe I that is also connected to the head.

In usinga device or apparatus of this kind, a shirt, such as indicated at A in Fig. 1, is slipped on the form or steam chest, with its shoulder yokes lyingon'and extending lengthwise of the top face of the form and, while thus supported, the shirt is buttoned in the usual way. In order to insure that the shoulder yokes will be properly ironed even by a comparatively unskilled operator, I have'provided means automatically to 40 'draw the shirt down so that the shoulder yoke portions of the shirt become taut and are pressed firmly against the top of the form or steam chest. It is desirable that the yoke portions of the shirt remain uncovered while on the form or 4.5

steam chest which, at the time, constitutes a hanger, so as to permit the moisture that is evaporated to escape readily and leave the yoke portions smooth and dry. Therefore, I place the it to act on the shirt by entering the arm holes and exerting a downward pressure thereon at the arm pits. In its most simple form, my invention comprises a cross arm which may be raised up close to the form or steam chest while a shirt is being applied or removed, and which is allowed to drop down and remain suspended by the arm holes of the shirt during the process of buttoning the shirt. The cross arm, which I have indicated as a whole at 8, need not project beyond the ends of the steam chest, but may actually be slightly shorter than the chest so that, when it is raised, it does not interfere in any way with the entry of the device into a shirt.

The cross arm may conveniently consist of two sections, one on each side of a sleeve 9 surrounding and slidable lengthwise of the tubular standard 3, the sections of the cross arm being welded or otherwise fixed to the sleeve. The sleeve extends a short distance above the cross arm so that it will strike the under side of the steam chest while the cross arm still lies at some distance below the chest. In other words, the ends of the cross arm can never come close enough to the steam chest to make it possible to pinch the fabric of a shirt between the cross arm and the chest. I also prefer to provide diagonal braces l0 between the sleeve and the cross arm; these braces being in the form of small metal rods fixed at their lower ends to the sleeve and diverging from each other in the upward direction so that they meet the cross arm near the opposite ends of the latter. The braces are preferably continued up beyond the cross arm was to bring the upper ends thereof and of the sleeve into the same horizontal plane. Consequently, when the sleeve is moved up until it contacts with the under side of the steam chest, the upper ends of the braces also engage with the chest. The upper ends of the braces are positioned far enough inwardly from the ends of the steam chest so that there is no danger that any part of a shirt will be caught thereby. On the ends of the cross arm, outwardly from the bracing rods IE], are facings II of suitable cushioning material. These facings may conveniently consist of short lengths of rubber tubing.

Pivotally supported by the base member of the structure is a treadle l2 adapted to swing in a vertical plane. To a rear extension 13 from the treadle are connected the lower ends of a pair of rods or links M whose upper ends are attached to the lower end of the sleeve 9.

Normally, the weight of the sleeve with its cross arm causes the same to drop down until the cross arm is far below the steam chest, as shown in full lines in Fig. 2. Upon pressing down upon the treadle proper, the sliding sleeve with its cross bar is raised, as indicated in Fig. 1 and in dotted lines in Fig. 2; the cross arm being now as close to the steam chest as it is able to get. The parts are so proportioned that, when the cross arm occupies this raised position, a shirt can readily be placed on the hanger or form, with the ends of the cross arm extending into the arm holes while the shirt is in place. When a shirt is to be placed on the device, the operator presses down on the'treadle and holds it down until the shirt has been slipped in position. Then, upon taking his foot off the treadle, the cross arm is permitted to descend until it hangs from the shirt with its ends engaging the arm pit sections at the bottoms of the arm holes in the shirt. By properly proportiom'ng the parts, the effect of the weight that is thus held suspended by the shirt is to draw the shoulder yoke portions taut and into intimate contact with the ironing faces of the device. While the eifective weight of the elements that pull the shirt down may vary within considerable limits, I have found that a weight of about ten pounds serves'its purpose admirably without interfering with the proper buttoning of the shirt.

If the cross arm should happen to be down at the time the shirt is placed on the device, the shirt will not be damaged by the subsequent raising of the cross arm, because the cushioned ends of the latter will spread the sides of the shirt apart and prevent them from folding in and being caught between the upper ends of the braces and the under side of the chest.

It will thus be seen that shirts may be quickly buttoned and, at the same time, the shoulder yoke portions may be successfully smoothed and ironed,

the shoulder portions being automatically stretched over the ironing surfaces so as to leave the hands of the operator entirely free to manipulate the shirt in buttoning the usual or any other desired number of buttons. In other words, two operations are performed simultaneously.

While I have illustrated and described with particularity only a single preferred form of my invention, I do not desire to be limited to the exact structural details thus illustrated and described; but intend to cover all forms and arrangements which come within the definitions of my invention constituting the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A device serving as a hanger for a shirt While it is being buttoned and, at the same time, ironing the shoulder yokes thereof, comprising a rigid heated member adapted to be inserted in the upper part of a' shirt and underlie the shoulder yoke portions thereof for the entire length of such portions, said member being of such size and shape that the entire shirt below the level of the ends of the shoulder yokes hangs free and may easily bebuttoned and be removable without unbuttoning, and means independent of said member and movable vertically relatively thereto to hold the said shoulder yoke portions down in close contact with said member.

2. A device of the character described, comprising a heated form adapted to be inserted in a shirt and underlie the shoulder yoke portions of the same, a cross arm below said member long enough to enter both arm holes of a shirt on said form, and means to hold said cross arm raised to permit a shirt to be placed on or removed from the form or to dropand pull down on the shirt.

3. A device of the character described, comprising a heated form adapted torbe inserted in a shirt and underlie the shoulder yoke portions thereof, of a cross arm underlying the form and having .a length sufficient to permit the ends thereof to enter both of the arm holes of a shirt on the form, a foot treadle, and connections between the treadle and the cross arm to cause the latter to be held high enough to permit a shirt to be placed on or removed from the form without being interfered with by the said arm when the treadle is depressed and to allow the cross arm to drop down by gravity and impose its weight on the shirt at the arm pits when the treadle is released.

4. A device of the character described, comprising'raheated form, a standard supporting the form, a member mounted on the standard so as to be slidable in the vertical direction, a cross arm on the upper end of said member long enough to enter both of the arm holes in a shirt on the form, a foot treadle, and operating connections ing face approximately as long as the width of 7 5 a shirt at the shoulder yoke portions, whereby when a shirt is placed on the form its shoulder yokes rest upon the latter and the sleeves depend therefrom, said form being of such size and shape that the entire shirt below the level of the ends of the shoulder yokes hangs free and may easily 7 be buttoned and be removable without unbuttoning, and means underneath the ends of said form adapted to enter the arm pits of a shirt on the form, said means movable downwardly away from said ironing face to draw the shirt down so as to smooth the shoulder yoke portions thereof.

6. A device of the character described comprising a rigid heated form adapted to be inserted in a. shirt and underlie the shoulder portions of the same, said form being of such size and shape that the entire shirt below the level of the ends of the shoulder yokes hangs free and may easily be buttoned and be removed without unbuttoning, vertically movable means below and.- independent of said member long enough to enter both arm holes of a shirt on said form; said means being of such size and shape that when it is in its raised position it does not interfere with the placing of a shirt on the form or with its removal from the latter while in a buttoned condition and, when lowered, causes the yoke portions of the shirt to be drawn down upon the form; and an actuator connected with said means.

DAVID NELSON. 

